


Sparkles and Lava Breath

by UnhelpfulPanda



Series: JohnDave Week [6]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fae, Dragons, Fae & Fairies, Fauns & Satyrs, M/M, Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 07:43:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11413347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnhelpfulPanda/pseuds/UnhelpfulPanda
Summary: Dragons and Faefolk don't usually get along well, but when you don't get along with your own people you start to outsource. And besides, its hard to care about species feuds when the guy is so attractive...(Johndave week 2017, day 3, "Your AU")





	1. Background part 1: John

**Author's Note:**

> Johndave week 2017, day 3: your AU or favorite AU
> 
> I chose a faerie/dragon AU because I love faeries and dragons and I've been in love with the idea of fae!John since I began reading [ "Away with the Fae ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3240680?view_full_work=true)
> 
> I put too much background into the story and so I'm chopping it up into a few chapters, starting with John's background. (His name is "Aerjon" because "John" isn't really a faerie name lmao)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John's background, where he mostly talks about himself and his life with humans (or, specifically, one human)

****

 

 

**Your name is Aerjon, and your people regard you as a freak.**

            One of the reasons may be because, more often than not, you use the name you give to other non-fae instead of your name. It is dangerous for faefolk to reveal their true names to non-fae, especially humans, so faeries usually have a secondary name to give to others. Yours is John Egbert, though the other fae find you strange because you prefer that name over your true name even when interacting with other faeries.

            Another reason is possible because your pranks do not discriminate when it comes to what creatures you play them on. Faeries like you, classified by some humans as “High Court Fae” and by others as simply “Elves”, are regarded as the most superior of faefolk, and all other types of fae are below you in power. The lesser fae, ugly and weak in comparison to High Court Fae, and other creatures outside of the faefolk, are the usual targets of faerie pranks. Humans are the most fun to torment, with dragons being a close second. However, you are one of the only faeries to disregard what is the ‘usual’ and prank _everyone_ , High Court Fae included. This makes you less than popular with your fellow fae.

            And perhaps maybe the biggest reason is your unusual level of compassion, even among Seelie Court fae. Other faeries still played with you despite the above reasons, teaming up with you to antagonize other creatures. One of these times, you and two other fae placed a faerie ring down and waited for a human to wander too close to fae territory. It was this time when a young woman and her small child approached, looking scared and hurried. The little boy had asked if the leader of the human lands nearby was going to hurt them for running away from him, and the woman had assured him they were safe even though it was clear she felt they were still in danger. And then they made their way right for the faerie ring.

            You could not stand by and watch innocent beings be caught up in your prank when they were clearly already suffering, so you dismissed the glamour keeping you hidden and told them to halt, for they were veering too close to faerie land. The woman apologized profusely, but the young boy stared at you with wide eyes. He asked if you were a fae, and you said yes. He asked if you had powerful magic, and you said yes. He asked if you could punish bad people, and you said yes while looking to his mother for clarification. She attempted to shush him, but he told you about the man who owned the city nearby. The man had attempted forcing the boy’s mother to marry him, under the threat of her and her son’s execution if she refused. Instead, she ran. The little boy pleaded with you to punish that man, and you did so without need for compensation. The other faeries watched you and called you foolish, but even they had to admit a thorn bush that grew from the pit of his stomach outward was a nice touch. Simple, yet effective. Before the humans left, you asked the boy his name.

            “James Egbert!” he replied happily, grinning at you. “Come visit me, okay?” he called to you as he left, and you did, right up until the day he died…

            You should probably also describe yourself too, huh? Well, you’ve got dark blue hair and neon blue eyes. Your skin is tan and sparkles when you don’t suppress it, and if you aren’t suppressing it you have a glowing blue aura surrounding you. You are tall and have pointed ears, hence why some humans think of you as elven, but unlike elves you possess wings, two light blue curvy wings on each side that also sparkle and are unfortunately very delicate, but they make you much faster than some other fae so you can’t complain _too_ badly. You also have a pair of glasses that James had given you when he was an adult and noticed you squinted a lot when looking at things farther off. Apparently even faefolk can have impaired sight, because the glasses help you immensely. You miss James a lot; maybe that’s why faeries try not to get attached to humans? They have such short lifespans, after all…

            Anyways, enough of your boring background info! There’s no time like the present, and today, you were going to enter a dangerous forest, rile up a dangerous mystery creature, and steal some treasure from said dangerous creature! Why? Why indeed… by that, you mean you have no idea. Why does one do anything these days? You just wanted to cause some mayhem, was that so bad?? Don’t answer that.

            You made your way to the edge of the forest, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed you. If they had, it shouldn’t have raised any alarms, since you were using glamour to disguise yourself as a rabbit. With confidence no one had caught on to your true nature and your plans for pandemonium, you entered the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next stop: Dave's background!


	2. Background part 2: Dave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave's background, where he rambles about his family more than anything else

****

**Your name is Dave Strider, and your people regard you as a freak.**

            Truthfully, you don’t have a set name, as you’ve been around for a very long time and have been referred to by many different names and titles. You are mostly called by humans The Lava Strider, after you saved a town at the base of a volcano from drowning in lava after their volcano erupted. You walk on lava once and suddenly that’s your name; humans were so simple… never mind you actually “breathe” lava too, instead of something simple like breathing fire.

            Breathing lava is very messy and you envy your siblings; Rose could breathe water, Roxy had ice breath, Dirk and Broderick could both breathe lightning (orange and black, respectively), and your mother breathed poisonous gas. Mom said your father (long since slain, but he was reportedly a huge dick so you aren’t surprised) breathed fire, and you childishly resent the guy for passing on _lava_ instead of fire breath. What an _asshole_ …

            You know exactly why your people find you so odd, and it’s because you are almost always in your humanoid form. Most dragons tend to stay in their draconic forms unless they were traveling into human towns or whatnot, and they don’t really relax in their humanoid form either. You, however, find your draconic form to be too heavy and hard to maneuver around in. So unless you are flying somewhere or battling, you elect to stay in your humanoid form.

            You can’t quite remember where the name “Dave” actually came from, or where your siblings got their current names. You know their most common titles, of course. Mom is widely known as The Dragon Mother of Pestilence, because she sired so many draconic children _and_ because her poison breath makes any human caught in it fatally ill. Roxy has been called The Winter Chill, and Dirk was once regarded fondly as The Orange Prince of the East because he spent a little less than a millennium ruling a human kingdom and protecting them from another dragon that had been terrorizing them. Rose is gifted with limited future vision and at one time had shared it with the humans, who called her The Dragon Seer, until she was attacked for predicting a kingdom would be destroyed. (Interestingly enough, when you and Roxy heard they had attacked your sister, you destroyed the town with ice and lava and fulfilled her prophecy). Bro was referred to as The Horror of the North, and though he gained the name before the rest of you were born and he doesn’t speak of the reason why (nor does Mom), the name has prevailed and humans are terrified of him.

            But enough about them, everyone is probably wondering what you look like, right? As a dragon, you are red and gold and _massive_ by human standards. For dragons, you are actually pretty small, but you still find yourself to be way too large. Your wings are huge too; they’d have to be to be able to support you when you fly. Your tail is long, about half the length of the rest of your body, and very thick even if it tapers off to a point. You have golden ridges that follow the line of your spine down your back and tail, ending right before the tip of your tail. Your horns are also golden, curving gradually backwards so that the end of your horns point towards the rest of your body. In humanoid form, you are tall, thin, and pale, with a smattering of freckles on your face and shoulders and shaggy ginger hair. Your horns and tail are retained, though of course much smaller, as is your lava breath and bright red eyes. You’ve found that, in humanoid form, your eyes are sensitive to bright light; you keep a pair of tinted glasses with you when the light is too much for your eyes.

            Here, though, you don’t need the sunglasses. The forest is dimly lit due to the trees blocking out the sun, which you are grateful for. It’s one of the reasons you chose the forest to be your secret hideaway space and the location of your hoard. The other reason was your friend Karkat, a grumpy satyr who yells at everyone and gets furious when people act fearful of him. He was the reason the forest is considered dangerous, even if he’s actually pretty harmless and decently friendly if one gets past his insults and the fact that he pretty much always yells. He confronted you when he came across you transporting your hoard here, screaming about you trespassing as you stared at him with one eyebrow raised. You gave him an item from your hoard; a silver necklace with the astrological sign for Cancer carved from ruby. It was your least favorite item of your hoard; too much silver, not enough red, and barely sparkly at all. Karkat, though, loved it, and he allowed you to stay as long as you (and you quote) “DON’T FUCKING BOTHER ME.”

            Speaking of your hoard, you lay down in your pile, admiring what you’ve collected so far. All dragons have things they like to collect. For you, it is red and blue sparkly items, usually gems or jewelry but you’ve got lots of stuff with you. You tend to like red sparkly items much more, as you are much pickier about blue sparkly things, but nevertheless you love your hoard. You snuggle into the pile and hold your tail against you, ready for a nice nap. Slowly, you drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of next chapter is also Dave's point of view, with a very short John part in the very beginning
> 
> Also, Dave breathes LAVA. how bitchin is that?? I mean, he doesn't agree, but it's still rad so shut up.
> 
> And he does indeed hold his tail like it's a security blanket, because he's a big lava breathing baby


	3. The Story: part 1 of 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys meet, and the boys flirt. Dave is a charming little bastard and sweeps John off his feet, literally at one point.

            **Hey,** **you’re John again** , and you have no luck finding much of anything, creature or treasure. You’ve come across lots of critters, but nothing deemed dangerous enough to keep people out. You even dismissed your glamour, wandering around in your true form. Maybe the rumors were wrong? Maybe the creature had died or been slain, and their treasure was stolen? You frowned in disappointment, entering a small clearing, and then froze, barely holding back a surprised shout.

            There was a giant pile of red and blue things, all of it sparkly and valuable, and in the center of it, hugging his tail and snoring softly, was a dragon!!! Resting in his humanoid form, no less! You thought dragons preferred to stay in their true forms? You snuck closer quietly for a better look, and instantly noticed how attractive this dragon was. Your cheeks flushed at the thought, but he _was_. You sat down next to his pile, watching him sleep without caring how creepy that actually was. You’ve done creepier, you’re sure. You were distracted by a sparkly red dress closer to you, and you reached out to touch it without thinking.

            His eyes snapped open instantly, and you cursed internally. You forgot dragons were very protective of their hoards, and touching anything while they slept in the pile would wake them up immediately.

 

            **You are Dave again** , having been abruptly awoken from your nap by someone touching your hoard. It couldn’t be Karkat; he knew how protective you were of your hoard and wouldn’t try to steal from you regardless. And the animals in the forest wouldn’t dare come close enough to you to touch your hoard, either, so it must be an intruder.

            Your eyes zero in on him immediately, a High Court Fae with wide blue eyes staring at you and his hand still on something in your hoard. You feel lava building up in your throat and threatening to fill your mouth in anger, but you swallow it down reluctantly. You always drip lava everywhere and it’s a pain to clean up. Still, faefolk are always bothering dragons and stealing their shit, so you aren’t surprised this faerie is trying to steal from you.

            Only, if he actually was going to take something, wouldn’t he have just grabbed it and flew off? Why was he still staring at you, cheeks flushed and unmoving?

            “What the fuck are you doing?” you finally spoke up in a low, dangerous tone. He started slightly, whipping his hand back, and laughed nervously. He opened his mouth but said nothing, closing it again with a frustrated look on his face.

            “I would say ‘nothing’, but fae cannot lie and therefore I cannot tell you I was doing ‘nothing’ because I was, in fact, doing something,” he explained, laughing nervously again. You sat up, narrowing your eyes at him, and then noticed that he was… really attractive, honestly. Your cheeks grew hot, but you pretended they hadn’t.

            “Were you watching me sleep? How long have you been there?” You inquired. Oh god, had he noticed you were hugging your tail?? It’s a bad habit you’ve had since you were a baby dragon; you couldn’t sleep unless you held your tail to your chest like a security blanket.

            The fae boy averted his eyes and shrugged, absently reaching for a ruby near him, and you snarled on instinct. He snatched his hand back, holding them both up defensively and staring at you with wide eyes again. His cheeks flushed darker and he began to glow with a blue aura. “Don’t touch my stuff,” you warned him, glaring.

            “I didn’t realize there was a _dragon_ in these forests. The rumors were pretty vague, honestly. All they said was that there was ‘a creature’ and that it was so defensive of the forest it _must_ have treasure hidden somewhere in here,” he rambled.

            “Actually, I’m not the creature the rumors are talking about. My friend Karkat is. And he’s not hiding any treasure; he’s just a big grump and yells at anyone he sees. I’m surprised you found me before he found you, actually. How’d you manage that?” you asked, tilting your head curiously. He shrugged again, grinning at you, and your heart skipped a beat.

            “My name is John, what’s yours?” he introduced, holding out his hand for a handshake. Heh, this faerie must have spent a lot of time with humans if he tries to shake hands with others.

            “I’m Dave,” you answered carefully, glancing from him to his hand skeptically.

            “It’s nice to meet you, Dave!” he smiled, gesturing to his hand meaningfully. You smirked and took his hand in yours, twisting it slightly and bringing it to your lips to kiss the back of his hand gently whilst keeping your eyes on his face. A startled laugh burst out of him, though it was obvious it was more in shock and nervousness than actual amusement.

            “I heard dragons could be very chivalrous, but I didn’t think a dragon would ever kiss the hand of one of the faefolk!” he exclaimed, avoiding your eyes and yet not withdrawing his hand. You tugged him gently by the hand.

            “Only the cute ones,” you purred, and now his entire face was red in embarrassment. You chuckled and tugged his hand again, and this time he stepped forward. Suddenly, he began to sparkle, and when he glanced down at his outstretched arm and noticed, he hissed out a curse. You, however, were mesmerized.

            “Sorry, I, uh, got too distracted and forgot to suppress the sparkling,” he muttered, sounding irritated with himself, and the sparkles began to fade.

            “Hey, wait. Don’t get rid of it; I like it,” you told him. He looked surprised, and the sparkles quickly returned.

            “You… you don’t think it looks silly?” he asked you, frowning.

            “No way. Do you see what I hoard, John? Sparkly red and blue things? A sparkly blue boy is the farthest thing from silly in my eyes,” you answered, tugging on his hand once more, much harder than you had before. He stumbled and fell into your pile. “There, see, you fit right in with the rest of my hoard,” you announced, watching him bite his lip to hold back a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> John glows blue and sparkles when he's not thinking about suppressing it. That's okay, though, Dave doesn't mind one bit.


	4. The Story: part 2 of 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the rest of the story, from John's point of view. they talk and cuddle and it's great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers: they kiss.

            **You are John once more** , and _holy shit_. You were lying in a cute dragon’s pile, basically _at his feet_ , and he was _flirting with you_. He let go of your hand and you sat up, not removing yourself from the pile of sparkly blue and red items. He was allowing you to touch his hoard, after all, so why would you leave? You scooted closer to him until you were close enough to touch him again, but you didn’t. Not yet, anyways.

            “I’m surprised you didn’t chase me off immediately, honestly. Faefolk and dragons don’t really get along very much, so I figured when you woke up you would shoot fire breath at me or something…” you trailed off.

            This time it was Dave who blushed. “Ah, well, even if I wanted to I couldn’t shoot fire breath at you,” he mumbled.

            “Oh?” you prompted, leaning forward.

            “Apparently my dad could breathe fire, before he died, but he didn’t pass it on to me or my siblings. Mom’s poison breath didn’t pass on either, though, so maybe dragon genetics don’t work that way. I was unfortunately saddled with _lava breath_ instead,” Dave huffed, obviously annoyed.

            “How do you breathe lava?” you blurted out, not realizing that might be rude until it was out of your mouth. “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking…”

            “You don’t; it just drips from my mouth and gets everywhere. I can spit it if I want to, which I guess is kinda cool? But like I said, it gets everywhere. It’s messy as hell,” he grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly.

            “But it doesn’t… burn you?” you asked curiously. He shook his head, chuckling.

            “Nah, I’m completely immune. I got the title The Lava Strider from the humans for walking on lava once, actually. I even took part of it and made it my last name, Strider,” he explained, smiling softly to himself.

            “I remember hearing about you, actually. You saved a village when the volcano they lived at the base of erupted, right?” you inquired. Dave nodded, seeming pleased you had heard about him.

            “I guess there are worse things to be remembered by, seeing as my eldest brother is called The Horror of the North,” he nodded, and you nodded your agreement at his statement, thinking about what he said about his last name.

            You were silent for a moment, but then spoke up quietly. “I took on a human’s last name after he passed away. I met him when he was a kid; he and his mother were running away from their home because the leader of the human settlement they lived in was threatening to kill them if his mother didn’t marry him. I was pissed, and the kid asked me to punish the guy, so I made a thorn bush grow from the pit of his stomach. Kinda gruesome, but he deserved it. I stayed with that kid his entire life, actually. He gave me my glasses because he noticed I couldn’t see long distances! James was a good person, so when he died without any children to succeeded him, it only felt right to take on his last name. Thus, I became John Egbert,” you explained.

            “It sounds like you really adored him,” Dave whispered, almost as if saying it too loud would scare you off.

            “I really did. I think…” you trailed off, then began again. “I think faefolk try to pretend we don’t get close to humans because we are better than them, but in reality it’s just… it’s just too hard to love someone with such a short lifespan,” you admitted, then chuckled dryly. “Listen to me, spilling my deep secrets to a stranger. Next thing you know, I’ll be telling you my true name!” you snickered.

            “Faeries don’t reveal their true names because they can be used against them, right?” Dave asked.

            “Mmhm! I don’t use my true name much anyways, though. I much prefer the name John,” you nodded, adding in, “sorry for rambling on like an idiot. You don’t really care about why a stranger chose his last name, do you?”

            “If I didn’t want to get to know them, then no I wouldn’t care. However, I don’t think I want to be a stranger to you, John,” he murmured, wrapping an arm around your waist. You turned to face him, finding him watching you with lidded red eyes.

            Ever so slowly, Dave leaned in and pressed his lips to yours. His mouth was warm and gentle and you melted into him, arms coming to wrap around his neck. You kissed for what felt like forever, and yet it was over too soon for your liking. Dave sighed softly, warm breath fanning across your face, and then pulled back with a laugh. “Why are you laughing? Did I do something?” you asked worriedly, retreating from him uncertainly.

            Dave was quick to pull you back, though, shaking his head with an amused smile on his face. “No, no, you didn’t do anything. I was just thinking about how bizarre this is, getting my mack on with a faerie while sitting in my hoard,” he explained, gesturing between the two of you meaningfully.

            You shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it’s pretty surprising. I mean, if someone was to tell me this morning I’d be kissing a dragon later on in the day, I’d probably laugh in their face or something,” you agreed. Dave nodded.

            “Yeah, people don’t really like hearing about future events they can’t envision actually happening, especially the negative ones. My sister can vouch for that,” he snorted, lying back in his pile. You hesitated for a moment, but when he raised an eyebrow your way you gave in and laid down beside him, smiling to yourself when he instantly curled in towards you.

            “Someone’s a snuggler,” you commented with a snort. Dave hummed in agreement, his tail coming up to sling over your hip. You reached out and pet it, grinning when you heard a low purr start up in his throat. “I didn’t know dragons cuddled _or_ purred, so I guess one learns new things every day,” you added playfully.

            Dave interrupted his purring to murmur, “Only the cool ones purr and cuddle.” His purring started up immediately upon his voice quieting. You chuckled and decided not to argue with his logic, instead kissing his forehead. Things settled down a lot after that, and you began to doze off just a bit before Dave spoke up again. “You know, you _would_ be a perfect addition to my hoard, John.”

            You laughed tiredly. “I thought dragons kidnapped human princesses, not sparkly fae boys,” you commented, and he groaned.

            “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant… ugh, never mind. We only just met, so it’s stupid,” Dave grumbled, hiding his face in the crook of your neck and narrowly avoiding stabbing you with his horns. You smiled softly, reaching up with the hand that had been petting his tail to run your fingers through his ginger hair. He hummed appreciatively.

            “I want to hear what you were going to say,” you encouraged. Dave was silent for a moment, and you briefly thought maybe he wouldn’t continue.

            “Will you stay here, with me?” he finally whispered, and your eyes went wide. You were glad he couldn’t see the shock on your face, but he must have felt you tense and seen the nervous twitching of your wings, because he continued, “I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want. It’s totally up to you, I just thought… well, this is nice, cuddling together, and it might be fun to hang out with another person, even if you are a faerie. But you probably want to go back to your people-”

            “I’ll stay.” Dave pulled back to look you in the eyes, curious and shocked. “I don’t have anyone to go back to, Dave. The faefolk pretty much hate me!” you laughed. “I’d rather be here with you.”

            Dave began to reply to you, but instead yawned in your face, mouth open enough for you to see his sharp teeth. You snickered at him and he pushed halfheartedly at your shoulder. “Shut up, you dweeb; you woke me up from my nap so you totally deserved getting my dragon breath all up in your face,” Dave murmured sleepily, eyes fluttering.

            “Are you falling asleep?” you asked in amusement. Dave didn’t answer you, which was an answer in of itself. You began petting his tail again, and even in his sleep he began to purr. You snuggled up against him and let yourself drift off as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dave purrs and is a big cuddly nerd and John is totally content to live with a dragon he literally just met because eveything goes faster in gay fanfiction, right?? right.


	5. The Epilogue: Grumpy Satyr Edition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat finishes off the story for us! The end!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's an extremely short chapter by the way

            **You are now Karkat** , and honestly what the _fuck_. You had heard there was one of the faefolk lurking around your forest, but somehow he had managed to evade you. You fucking hate faeries; if it had been any other creature you would have found them immediately, but fae were a bunch of little dickheads.

            When you finally found him, though, he was lying in the pile of shit Dave collects. And Dave was lying beside him. They were napping together, too, like a pair of stupid assholes. You crossed your arms and glared at them, hoping your glare was intense enough to wake them up. Alas, it was not.

            Well, whatever. If Dave wanted to roll around with a fucking faerie of all things, he could do what he wanted. Still, couldn’t he have picked a unicorn or something?? You wandered off, rolling your eyes at the pair of idiots sleeping in a hoard of useless bullshit items.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How would a unicorn and a dragon........? you know what, never mind, I don't want to know.
> 
> Karkat will warm up to John one day lol

**Author's Note:**

> [ Johndaveweek 2017 calendar link ](http://johndaveweek.tumblr.com/post/161303277014)


End file.
